Blake Lively

[Theremedy]

Evidence is emerging about a coordinated smear campaign against Blake Lively after she was sexually assaulted and harassed on the set of It Ends With Us.

The claim is that her co-star and Director of the movie Justin Baldoni engaged in unwanted sexual behaviour during intimate scenes. Such as “improvised” kissing and biting of her lip. That he whispered inappropriate comments in her ear during filming and was a general all round creep.

Also that the film’s producer Jamey Heath showed her sexual photographs of his wife.

That both of them would walk into her trailer while she was changing.

She complained to the studio at the time and requested an intimacy director to be present during sex scenes. She also got protections written into her contract, such as no improvisation during sex scenes. She started to request her husband (Ryan Reynolds) presence on set.

During the promotion of the movie all the above was spun on social media into a tale of her being unreasonable and a diva. Obviously nothing was mentioned of the behaviour of the men. She was contractually instructed not to talk to deeply about the theme of the movie (ironically, domestic violence) and to keep interviews light. This was spun into her making light of DV and victims.

I remember seeing the stories at the time, and she really was made out to be a bitch.

Now, in a law suit BL has filed we can see text messages between the publicists and a PR firm that were brought in specifically to smear BL. They appear to admit to orchestrating the whole thing and we can see in writing that the PR firm confirm the behaviour and can’t quite believe how well the smear campaign worked. As one of the messages says “it’s quite scary how much people want to hate women” [sic]

Scary indeed.

@Whitnae97 , Lively's filing against Baldoni, the studio Wayfarer and others sets it out very well [contains my bolding].

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/1629cc34e562e325/4410b1d9-full.pdf

BLAKE LIVELY, an individual, Plaintiff,
V.
WAYFARER STUDIOS LLC, a California
Limited Liability Company, JUSTIN BALDONI,
an individual, JAMEY HEATH, an individual,
STEVE SAROWITZ, an individual, MELISSA
NATHAN, an individual , THE AGENCY GROUP
PR LLC , a Delaware Limited Liability Company,
JENNIFER ABEL, an individual, RWA
COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, a California Limited
Liability Company, JED WALLACE, an
individual, STREET RELATIONS INC., a
California Corporation, and DOES 1-100, Defendants

[...]
79. In connection with the Film's public release, Ms. Lively and the rest of the cast actively promoted the Film in accordance with the Marketing Plan for the Film, attached hereto as Exhibit C. Wayfarer had embraced, and on information and belief, had formally approved of, this Marketing Plan.
80. The Marketing Plan, and related talking points, expressly required Ms. Lively, as well as all other cast and crew engaged in promotional activities, to "[f]ocus more on [her character's] strength and resilience as opposed to describing the film as a story about domestic violence" and to “[a]void talking about this film [sic] that makes it feel sad or heavy – it's a story of hope."
81. As detailed above, Ms. Lively and fellow cast members promoted the Film in
accordance with the talking points and Marketing Plan during appearances on red carpets, interviews, press junkets, fan events, and pop-up experiences leading up to the Film's release.
82. Mr. Baldoni publicly embraced the Marketing Plan. In early May 2024, Mr. Baldoni appeared at a floral-themed trailer launch event, which included him personally making flower bouquets for influencers, a photo opportunity, and film-branded latte art. As late as July 25 , 2024 , Mr. Baldoni appeared at a pop-up of Lily Bloom's flower shop in Century City, California, where he held a long stem rose microphone and playfully gave tours of the shop to influencers. In a TikTok interview, posted that day, Mr. Baldoni excitedly walks through the pop-up and states that he will be giving tours “all day every day” until August 9.
83. In advance of the release of the Film, nearly all cast members chose to appear in public separately from Mr. Baldoni given his on- set behavior. Mr. Baldoni became concerned that the public would discover that “something is much bigger under the surface, " on information and belief, alluding to the complaints lodged by Ms. Lively and others.
84. At that point, Mr. Baldoni pivoted away from the Film's Marketing Plan to explain his absence from the rest of the cast. He shifted his focus away from a message of female triumph, to instead capitalize on female trauma. After the Film's premiere, Mr. Baldoni changed his Instagram profile, cancelled lighthearted social media posts, and instructed his team to look for survivors reactions and support all in an effort to quickly shift his own public narrative to focus solely on survivors and domestic violence organizations.
85. Ms. Abel cautioned Mr. Baldoni that this shift might be “too drastic too soon." Still, Mr. Baldoni insisted on a “ Tik Tok strategy” and that his promotional activities for the Film should seek to amplify what he described as “survivor content.”
86. The team followed Mr. Baldoni's instruction. For her part, Ms. Abel concluded, "[i] t doesn't feel performative now that you've done major substantial press on the topic ." On August 11, 2024, Ms. Abel, laid out a posting timeline to Mr. Baldoni and the team, stating, “[t]heater surprise and then I think survivor content first thing tomorrow am[,] which then will be helpful for news cycle."
87. By repositioning Mr. Baldoni's marketing of the Film, on information and belief, Mr. Baldoni hoped to create the false impression that he had chosen not to appear alongside other cast members. Mr. Baldoni directed his team to share on his public Instagram feed the private messages he had received from survivors sharing their stories of domestic violence with him. Mr. Baldoni's team talked him out of this idea, writing that they "do not recommend using private DMs as content."

[screenshot of message:]
From : Justin Baldoni
To: Jennifer Abel (owner)
Also/ I need you guys to really be on all the stories I'm tagged in.
I think you should let all people dm me so you can see peoples reactions to film and I can be reposting everything. These next 36 hours are crucial and we need to be on it. Looking at everything. Finding the most emotional and touching content from survivors supporting this film and reposting.
Need you to be finding survivors sharing their stories and amplifying them on my page and TikTok.
Priority: Normal 09/08/2024 15:30:15(UTC+0)

To be honest, I felt sick when I got to the bit about Baldoni wanting survivors to contact him so that he could repeat in public their private messages about their appalling experiences.

He's explicit that he wants to exploit survivors and their stories for his personal PR, to protect himself from his own sexual misbehaviour becoming known.

I just... I can't.

That video that was put out to "prove" Blake Lively was lying just looked like an uncomfortable woman demonstrating the Fawn response. And that Baldoni thought it would show him in a good light was misguided.

Absolutely. I was shocked that he thought that this was evidence he was in the right, a video of him trying to kiss a woman that says multiple times in different ways that she doesn’t want to kiss him and physically avoids it. Given he thinks this is acceptable enough to show the world, it made me question what else he does that he isn’t showing the world that he thinks might be pushing the line a little bit, which is in fact way over the line.

I’m also astounded by the number of people who don’t see that in the video and are still defending him. She was working, she is being civil but firm with her colleague. It seems to me an entirely reasonable way to act when you’re uncomfortable at work.

I haven’t seen the video, somehow that’s not come up on my FYP or feed. Weird!

They were acting

The reason he put out the video is because she alleged, that out of nowhere, he grazed his lips down her neck saying it smells so good, which was not the case. He put this video out because she left out so many details and context

Also, they are acting. As a couple where they are in love but she is also being abused

Also, they were acting

If they’re acting, why are they talking about their actual real life spouses? And she’s talking about making the scene so romantic and not giving the audience what they “want”… in a scene without sound… if they were ‘acting’ why wouldn’t she be saying “pretend to kiss me and I’ll pull away”. He’s acting, using her body, when her non acting words are asking him not to.

Its a montage scene where music is played over the top so you can't hear what they are saying but just see their lips moving. So it doesn't matter what they are talking about as long as the way they are looking at/ holding each other etc is romantic

Yes, I know. But she repeatedly asks him not to kiss her and awkwardly and unromantically pulls away when she does. Even if they’re acting (which I accept they are), how is that acceptable?!

My point is it’s not abused Lily asking not to be kissed because she has mixed feelings about the abuse, it’s Blake, talking about her real life husband and not in character asker her also not in character co worker not to kiss her in that scene. And he tries to, and puts his lips on her, repeatedly.

So how is he supposed to film this love scene then? Of them almost kissing? She was hired for that role, to play that part. They are supposed to kiss/almost kiss in that scene. And the pulling away part, she says in that don't give them what they want, like make the audience wait for the kiss. This isn't in an office where a co worker tried to repeatedly kiss someone! This is literally what is meant to be happening here, no? So, it's really not anything clear cut to me here and I think it's wild that to some this is clear cut SA/SH!!! Especially as she cherry picked parts out without giving the full context. Anyway, as she said she is Khaleesi and as has been pointed out, she is VERY rich and powerful as is her husband. So, would Khaleesi just meekly stand there if she was unhappy? I'm not sure.

Since Lively's filing has been linked, here is the other side's filing - amended-complaint.pdf.

Wayfarer Studios (Baldoni's company), Baldoni, Jamey Heath, Steve Sarowitz, Melissa Nathan, Jennifer Abel, It Ends With Us Movie and The Agency Group are taking action against Lively, Reynolds, Leslie Sloane, Vision PR and the New York Times. The filing includes a lot of emails, text messages and documents that appear to contradict Lively's version of events and which also appear to show that the text messages released by Lively have been taken out of context and, in some cases, manipulated to alter their meaning, with emojis removed and large chunks of conversations omitted.

She's toast in the indistry and so is her awful husband. The receipts have been flying in, and can't see how she can wriggle her way out of this one. Feel sad for women who have genuinely been SA'd as calculated plots like this just make things harder than they already are.

This whole thing is a messy, messy car crash.

Everything Lively accused JB of has been disputed. (So far) With video footage. With email. With voice and text messages.
How successfully is up to you to decide.

But the angle of the fearful, powerless actress being sexually harassed by the powerful actor/director/producer weinstein creepy type scenario has been undermined.

Not least by the many compromises and generally major sucking up everyone did in those really cringy emails and voicemails to appease an increasingly demanding Blake Lively.

Is it the full context? I think we all doubt that 🙄

Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds & Taylor Swift versus Justin (who the heck is he?!) Baldoni.

I had literally no idea who he was. Don’t know about you?!

So, there is no evidence of the alleged smear campaign. YET. It got shot down. SO FAR.

What we do all see (I think) is that the internet can routinely be a horrible, hateful space. Given over to trolling and misogyny. Name calling and what not.

Can we blame Justin Baldoni and his crises PR team for ALL that.
Nope.
It’s outrageous to suggest he and his team take FULL responsibility for it.
In a written statement.
Written by BL and her hubby (Ryan Reynolds if you weren’t in the know) 🤭 .
How hilarious and INSANE.
Thats Hollywood! (Jazz hands!!!🙌🏼)

Sex scenes had an intimacy coordinator. But Blake Lively chose NOT to meet them before shoot.
It was left to her co star to relay the conversation about the sexytime choreography and notes made with the Intimacy Coordinator to her.
In her house for her convenience.
Bet that was a comfortable chat.
This was an integral meeting making sure everyone was comfortable and Blake Lively’s choice was to not take part? She was “good” with it.
Until she wasn’t. That’s the point of engaging someone who isn’t the director or your costar to coordinate the ….um…intimacy.

It is not standard practice to have an intimacy coordinator for a slow dance/kiss scene.
Although this may change now!
Intimacy coordinators are gonna make mega bucks in the future. That’s my prediction. 😉
Ka-ching!!! I should train up.

Knowing they were making a film about DV, if Blake Lively didn’t want to kiss her costar in romantic scenes outside of sex scenes, then she could have had that Written into her contract before shooting. Her choice. But she didn’t.

She also didn’t sign all of her contracts.
That was a choice which gave her IMMENSE power over the whole production and SONY.
She got smarts 🧠

The dance scene is in the book. It was in the shooting schedule. There’s no surprises there. But Blake Lively didn’t read the book. And didn’t think the book’s/movie characters would kiss in this romantic scene. 🤔

BL accused JB of talking out of character in a romantic scene when she instigated and insisted on talking.

Guess she didn’t know there was sound available to provide context.
Cheeky!

The case basically wants JB to take full responsibility for BL’s blurring the lines between acting and real life in her own mind because she insisted on
a) trying to direct the scene while ‘in scene’ when she is not the director.
b) Talking! All. The way. Through.

There’s no reason why, when you hear JB responding or collaborating directly with BL’s suggestions
“stand here”
“let’s talk”
”lets not give them what they want”
”film my shoes” 🥿 (so sparkly!)
That she couldn’t also add that she doesn’t think he should nose or kiss her neck either because.

1. she felt his character wouldn’t do that.
2. more directly that Baldoni shouldn’t do that.

It seems she couldn’t distinguish between the two because she had broken character from the beginning of the scene.
He followed suit cos

a) he thought the chatter made her more comfortable and they were handling things professionally.
Man was he wrong!
or
b) he saw it as a way in to harass her. And made her uncomfortable on purpose cos he was NOT acting. He was being a pervert.

Who is correct? Can you tell who was or wasn’t acting? Super murky.

Pornography was actually a home birth video for inspiration material for the birthing scene. Which she chose not to watch.

JB coming into BL’s trailer while breast pumping in the presence of a nanny and other members of staff was a problem one day but another day when she INVITED BL over to rehearse lines while pumping, it was fine.

Instead of asking to Reschedule for when no one is feeding/pumping/having makeup removed they are told to “Look away.” “ Turn to the wall.” “Don’t make eye contact” while they continued these conversations.
Everyone has a right to privacy but, people were literally invited in and made to turn their backs.
Weird, blurred boundaries. Again.

This was a low budget Indy movie that I will never watch.
But it had a message about DV and overcoming it that has been really overshadowed.
The blurring of truth by using insinuation and selective dissemination of correspondence is shocking.
No one knows the truth until all the information is shared. Unedited. Unspun.

And this nasty public spat could have been avoided with honest, direct communication, true respectful collaboration and maintaining everyone’s personal and professional roles AND boundaries while still on set.

On average 2 women are killed by their partners in the U.K. every week.

Thats a fact.
Women should be believed, I pray that this case doesn’t undermine women who are in genuine peril. This week. Right now. As I write and you read this.

Its really shameful when you think about it.